After a quick cup of tea and pile of biscuits devoured, it was time to swing straight into the next session on building the employee experience by Rob Robson from Tata Technologies.
Tata are a global business employing 900 people in the UK and in April 2017, they moved to a new £20m European HQ in Leamington Spa. Over this period, there has been substantial drive from the HR to deliver projects in close partnership with all areas of the business.
The move came at a time when the business grew and available space had decreased so when seeking a new head office, one of the key points was to ensure they had a space and environment which reflected the vision of the business.
The key to selecting the new space was a joint decision between the business leaders and employees. It was essential that employees were included as part of the changes as to allow them to create a space that was fit for purpose and move forward together.
With any major change there are always challenges and limitations. Funding and getting things started were the initial challenge as the operating environment contrary to belief is frugal. There are impacting external factors such as the volatility within the economy which makes it difficult to predict which direction things are going. This meant that they needed to heavily factor in flexibility in addition for the space to grow. Influencing and changing the culture, technology and physical environment all needed to be considered, you need to understand the capability of your resources, understanding the business context; these together can help understand the culture will allow you to focus on engaging the employees and generating employee involvement.
When they created their promotional video to introduce the new building, it was delivered by employees, not management which helped to support the values and culture that the business wanted to achieve in order to drive engagement. There was a review of the on boarding process, to enable recruitment of a high standard and a focus on safety with initiative “don’t walk by”.
Tata demonstrated a human approach by giving a commitment to generating a positive culture, caring for the environment, high standards, driving innovation and supporting the right behaviours to ensure the success of the project.
Helping to create a more vibrant and creative space has played a key role in underpinning the vision and values which in turn enhanced the levels of employee engagement. Employees do not have their own desks, they have a neighbourhood so everyone gets to work with people around the business, this helps to increase innovation.
The vision and values are visible throughout the building, so regardless if you are a visitor or employee, what the business has committed to and stands for has a strong presence and forms a part of the day to day business activities.
The reaction to the changes has been well received and at all stages of the project, regular employee reviews were conducted to effectively map the journey. Once the move was completed, it was clear what impact the move had upon the culture and it’s connection to the business values.
To take a peek inside their new head office, please click here
Natalie Ellis HR 